Withering
by Heyitsm
Summary: Primrose Everdeen and Rory Hawthorne are sent into the battle field as medics at only 13 years old. They're told to stay in safe territory depicted by Rory's wrist cuff, but Prim can't stand there and watch people only 15 ft away die, But ultimately, death has it's sting. Prim's final moments with Rory put into a Two-shot. Rory's POV
1. Chapter 1

I sit anxiously in a district 13 hovercraft. I glance to Prim, sitting beside me. She is very tensely sitting with her toes quietly tapping the floor of the hovercraft nervously. Her face is plastered with many different conflicting emotions; Fear, anxiety, worry and a smidge of depression, yet she still looks to eager to help the sick and injured at the same time. She looks like she might get up and jump out of the hovercraft, plummeting to the piles of injured people and corpses to do all she can to help at any second. And that really scares me. One of the reasons that eager look glazing her face alarms me is the fact that I know Prim is willing to die to help the sick or injured, or even people who are seconds away from death, that not even the best doctors in the capitol could save. That's just who she is, always has been, always will be. Prim and I have gotten very close lately, but I can't exactly say I want to be best friends with her. I've been hoping we could be something more, but I doubt she feels the same way about me. I've had a crush on her really since I've met her, but I've never gotten up the courage to tell her how I feel. I had gotten into the medical field since arriving in district 13 helping Prim and 13's medical staff heal the survivors of the bombing. "Now arriving in the Capitol." A mechanical voice sounds. I watch the horrible scene unfold, pressed against the window. Corpses. Corpses everywhere. Nightmarish. I glance over to Prim, who is now shaking. "You okay..?" I ask worriedly. Prim swallows hard to keep herself from openly sobbing and shakes her head weakly. I pull her into my arms comfortingly and reassure her it'll be okay, a fairly futile gesture, but one of the only ones keeping us sane. It is now time to embark off the hovercraft into the nightmare of blood and gore that lies below, and Prim and I march to the hovercraft exit, a little less eagerness in my stride than hers. The head of medical staff, Doctor Pamerael steps in front of us firmly. "Not so fast, Soldiers Everdeen and Hawthorne. You are to only stay in this area away from the danger of the pods. I know it may seem cold to you, but I assure you its for the best. We can't afford to lose medical staff that quickly. Do you understand? Only in this area is it safe to help the injured, the rest is uncharted territory that we can't afford to deal with right now_. _I want this done right and more importantly I want it done by the book this time, Everdeen." She orders sternly in a cold voice. Prim blushes a little in embarrassment at her reference. I remember too, exactly what set her off. Prim had spotted a girl who had climbed a tree to escape the flames, but to no avail, the tree was set alight by a nearby burning building. Prim hauled herself up onto the low branch to her best abilities, weakened by the smoke from the fire. She got a few burns and charred the end of her braid, but she was okay and she saved the girl from the burning tree. She had burned her hair and skin but she still looked so beautiful, and I was ecstatic to discover that in the end that the burns were only cosmetic and didn't compromise her health, although she had killed some of the nerves, leaving the burned areas perpetually numb, but she's okay and that's all that matters to me. Prim nods obediently to , but for some reason something makes me think she wasn't being entirely sincere concerning that promise. We slowly climb down the dangling ladder and land on our feet on the blood stained ground. I hold Prim's hand as we venture deeper in seek of the injured as eerily, we can only seem to find dead bodies. Prim squeaks as she trips over a large rock, but I catch her before she lands in the piles of dead bodies. Only now do I realize that was no ordinary rock she had tripped on – It was a child's decapitated skull. I squirm a little in horror and disgust. I pull Prim closer as we trek forwards in search of survivors. My wrist cuff buzzes, signaling we've reached the end of our allotted territory, but I can just barely make out some injured but moving human forms up ahead. Prim chimes in. "Hey… Rory? I just wanted to say thank you." Prim says nervously. "For what?" I ask naively. "For being such a great…" Prim trails off. "Friend?" I interrupt in a sad tone. I wait and expect Prim to quietly agree or nod, but she doesn't. She looks up from the ground, cups my face in her hands and kisses me. I pull her into my arms closer. _Whoa… _I think to myself. After about 7 seconds, she hesitantly breaks away. "A friend of sorts." Prim says with a wink. "Yeah…" I say, smiling sheepishly. "I gotta go." Prim says sadly, in an almost final sounding voice, kissing me again. "Bye…" She says hesitantly. Little silver things rain from the sky in the distance and explode. "Prim, wait! Don't go!" I call after her, but she's already running to a small injured capitol child. I can't follow her because of my wrist cuff, it's very potent and I won't get far with it trying to stop me; It's electric. "I'll see you soon, Rory! I love you!" She calls back to me naively. _Parachutes… Oh god. Gale's parachute bombs! _"Prim, No!" I scream futilely. I stagger forward, agonized by my wrist cuff, but still fighting. But I'm not fast enough. She hears me and looks back at me to see what's wrong, but it's too late. Powerful, devastating bombs go off and light up the world in flames. The flames set her alight and her clothes and hair are burned and her skin begins to melt and blacken. The force thrusts me to the ground and I black out. In my last moments of consciousness, one lingering thought remains in my mind. _Prim. _


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks later…

I stand in the meadow that Prim and I grew up in, but unfortunately Prim and I won't be playing hide and seek today. The sky is grey and dreary, so cloudy that not a single ray of sunshine can make it through. It's a foggy day and the extensive rain has disrupted the ashes and turned the ground to saddening mush. I was released from the infirmary a while ago so I could attend Prim's funeral. Being in the hospital was agonizing, but not because of the severe burns or skin grafts. Everything there reminded me of Prim, and that was something that I couldn't handle. I was always on the brink of a mental break-down there. Although what was left of Prim's body was scattered throughout the capitol street unidentifiably, and empty casket still stands open for loved-ones to drop little things in; Things that show what she meant to them. The crowd has begun to thin out. I already knew that people wouldn't want to stay long – They miss Prim, and it's just another reminder that she's gone. Gone forever. It requires all the willpower I can muster up to stay, the pain of losing her is unbearable and here it feels inescapable. I watch as Katniss, the last one here leaves sobbing uncontrollably. I almost wish I didn't know Prim had met her untimely fate; I'd much rather live out my days thinking that she just went away for a little while. Somewhere peaceful, and safe. The place she described in a song she used to sing. The meadow. Not this meadow turned make-shift graveyard, where the grass is charred away and bodies lie beneath our feet. I walk to the empty-coffin slowly. It stares up at me, almost mockingly. _I let you down. I—I didn't save you. I'm so sorry Prim, I couldn't save you. I failed you. It should have been me! I should be the one splattered through the capitol, not you! _I think to myself like a mad man. _Pull it together, Rory. _I weakly pull a few small items from my coat pocket; a worn leather book, a small tarnished silver ring and a rose. _A primrose. _These items would mean nothing to a stranger passing by, but they're more than meets the eye. A book full of the love letters I've written to Prim but never had the courage to give her, a primrose flower, and the ring that I was going to use to propose to her one day. I remember finding it in the ashes of twelve after the fire-bombing, I immediately knew who it would belong to one-day. Hot tears stream down my red cheeks and I crumple to the ground sobbing and mumbling "Prim..." Over and over again. I control my sobs temporarily, and place the book and the ring delicately in the casket and lay the flower in front of the gravestone. Prim's gravestone is the only one in the meadow, everyone chipped in to honor her death. It reads; _R.I.P Primrose Everdeen, Died helping the injured during the second rebellion. _It brings tears to my eyes. I drop to my knees sobbing onto the tombstone. _I love you so much Prim, more than anything. If I could go back in time and change anything I wanted, I'd be the one dead, not you. It should be me in your place. You were so, bright, happy, colorful and full of life. You were the best thing that's ever happened to me, and my own brother killed you. _The tears get stronger. _I'll love you forever, Prim. I'm so, so sorry that I let you down. I love you, Prim. Goodbye. _I pull myself to my feet unwillingly and leave the meadow with stiff robotic movements. I venture into the charred grey forest and somehow manage to find one tree, standing defiant and green. I slowly climb to a low branch and fashion a noose out of a length of rope. It should be me… It should be me.. _Are you, are you coming to the tree, where I told you to run, so we'd both be free. Strange things did happen here, no stranger it would be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree. _I'm so sorry, Prim. I pull the noose over my head. _Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight at the hanging tree. _

See you soon, Prim.


End file.
